Goods things come in small packages

Now dimsums get their own food festival at the Pan Asian restaurant

Now dimsums get their own food festival at the Pan Asian restaurant

Can you imagine making an entire meal out of dainty little dim sums? We can after walking into Ping, a Pan Asian restaurant that not only specialises in dim sums but is also organising a festival to celebrate it.
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Ping is one more of those babies started by enterprising Bangalore techies and is located in a busy bylane of Koramangala.

We walked through a pleasant garden-like space full of plants, cobbled pathways, dim lighting and outside seating on stone benches to enter the dining space.
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The d ufffdcor is very South East Asian, minimalistic with simple lines and colours.

No loud red lanterns or colourful d ufffdcor here but understated paintings adorn the wall, paper lamps hang down from jute ropes and dark wood furniture is placed against cream, blue, yellow and chocolate walls.

We started our meal with Miso Soup (Rs 125) and a Ping's Special Chicken Soup (Rs 125).

The Miso Soup had that slightly fermented sweetish aftertaste and came loaded with chunks of tofu and button mushrooms. The Ping's special soup was a wholesome affair with broccoli, chicken and egg drops for company.

We started our meal with Pan Fried Crab Cakes (Rs 195) served with a yellow bean and a chilli bean sauce. The crab cakes were crisp with the sweet crab meat stuffed inside and tasted delicious with the pungent bean sauces.

Then we began our dim sum ride. The good thing about wontons is that they are light on the tummy but the bad thing about them is that they vanish in one gobble.

We started off with Roasted Pumpkin dumpling, a delicate wonton stuffed with boiled sweet pumpkin. We found it a little too bland for our taste.
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This was followed up by Prawn and Napa Cabbage steamed dumplings (Rs 215), a piece of art really with the cabbage serving as the shell of the wonton and it being stuffed with prawns and tied around with a spring onion string. The prawns were fresh and went beautifully with the steamed cabbage.
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Next in line were the Fish Pokchoy Sui Mai (Rs 185), Lamb and Onion Dimsum (Rs 165) and the Button Mushroom with Pickled Apricot (Rs 145).

The Fish PokChoy wonton had an overpowering aftertasteu00a0 and would be a bit of an acquired taste. But we suggest dipping it into the ginger or the chilli bean sauce.
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The lamb dimsum was a surprise with the robust and slightly spicy flavours of the mince coming through the thin skin of the wonton.

It was however the mushroom and apricot dimsum flavoured with soy sauce that had us completely bowled over.
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The deadly combination of sweet and savoury was what kept the taste of it on our tongues long after it was gone.

We were already reeling from the wonton mania when the piece de r ufffdsistance came along in the form of the fried Peking Duck and Pineapple Spring Rolls (Rs 155). This was the high point of our meal.
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The saltiness of the meat came together so well with the sweet gooey pineapple sauce. The Vietnamese Chicken Spring Rolls were a disappointment though.

We had expected that we would get the chance to stuff the rice paper with our choice of filling (usually fresh herbs, glass noodles, boiled chicken), roll it ourselves which is traditionally practiced in Vietnam.

But this roll came fried with cooked stuffing and the trademark nuoc mam or fish sauce was also missing for dipping.

The dessert section at Ping is extensive and we settled for the Choco Chilli Mousse (Rs 125) and The Baked Alaska (Rs 125).

The Choco Chilli was a heady concoction of dark chocolate mousse infused with chilli and served with a crumble and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
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If food could ever be compared to heaven this would be it. The mousse was smooth, dark, sweet and intense at the same time, the chilli only adding to the slightly bitter flavour of the chocolate.
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The Baked Alaska, a complicated affair with layered sponge cake served with ice cream and topped with meringue hardened in an oven, was an avalanche of hot and sweet, cold and creamy flavours.
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We are definitely going back for the dim sums and the dessert.

At Ping Restaurant and Dessert Bay, No 130, 1st Cross, 5th Block Koramangala
Call 4152 1773
Meal for two approx Rs 1,000

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